By Gregg Newsom
This week, I shifted my focus to the first Environmental Justice principle and began to consider its relationship to the grassroots food justice movement in Detroit. The principle reads, “Environmental Justice affirms the sacredness of Mother Earth, ecological unity and the interdependence of all species, and the right to be free from ecological destruction.”

The status of our local environment and the quality of our local food are intricately linked. The health of the soil, water and air is important in growing good food. But what stands out for me in this principle are the concepts of unity and interdependence and how within Detroit’s burgeoning local food movement the connections between race, class and food, which I see as manifestation of this unity and interdependence, are overlooked and often intentionally veiled.

Just as the political landscape is changing rapidly, Detroit’s “foodscape” is as well. The number of gardens and farms are growing. During the summer, the number of produce markets jumped dramatically and Detroit-made and branded foods are on the shelves across the region and nation. In the past month, there have been an increasing number of articles adding to the discussion of race and food in Detroit. A few of these articles that came across my desk questioned the dominance of white-led organizations and businesses associated with growing, producing and distributing food in the city and have sparked debate and, I hope, a greater desire for discussion and meaningful change by these organizations.

Returning to our environmental principles, I found myself respectfully reading more about the First National People of Color Environmental Leadership Summit in 1991, where the principals were drafted. The summit itself emerged from the gap between predominantly white-led conservation clubs and societies and Black and people of color communities directly impacted by exposure to inhumane levels of injustice and toxicity. Since, in the Detroit food system we are experiencing a similar situation with dangerously similar effects, I was looking for potential tools and strategies that could be applicable.

What stood out for me in the letters and articles documenting the emergence of the summit is the powerful stance taken in addressing the “Group of Ten,” the 10 biggest environmental organizations. A letter from the SouthWest Organizing Project (SWOP) to groups like the Sierra Club, Audubon Society and the National Wildlife Federation, while expressing “the belief that through dialogue and mutual strategizing we can create a global environmental movement that protects us all,” makes strong and clearly defined demands. (read March 1990: Southwest Organizing Project letter to Big 10 environmental groups at ejnet.org/ej/swop.pdf)

The letter reads, “people of color in our region have been subjected to racist and genocidal practices,” and goes on to share horrific examples. Those who drafted the letter state frankly, my emphasis added, “Although … the ‘Group of Ten’ often claim to represent our interests, in observing your activities, it has become clear to us that your organizations play an equal role in the disruption of our communities.” I think that’s deep and it reveals the fact that the actions of these well-intentioned groups, due to their privileged reality tunnels and inability to connect with people of color communities, had become as equally destructive as the toxins these communities are exposed to. I cannot help but draw comparisons between the potentially equally destructive effects of white-led organizations and businesses that currently hold the reigns of our food system.

The “SWOP letter,” as it came to be known, was signed by 100 people of color community leaders and made many demands. It called upon the big ten to “cease operations in communities of color within 60 days, until you have hired leaders from those communities” amongst others. The letter struck a nerve in many of the big 10 environmental organizations, provided push-back and, with the Sierra Club for example, helped to establish people of color led environmental justice programs across the United States, including here in Detroit.

In closing, the signers of the SWOP letter invited the big ten organizations to a frank and open dialog and stated that: “It is our opinion that people of color in the United States and throughout the world are clearly endangered species. Issues of environmental destruction are issues of our immediate and long-term survival. We hope that we can soon work with your organization in helping to assure the safety and well-being of all peoples.”

What excited me as I read through this history are the similarities between the struggles in Detroit and the struggles documented in the SWOP letter and that we are all, by our presence here in Detroit, connected to this struggle for self-representation, for the right to a healthy environment and access to fresh and just food.

While recognizing my own place in this equation, being a white “foodie” in the city, I consider having frank and open discussions about the proliferation of white-led organizations and businesses in Detroit’s food system to be vital. Especially when we consider this in conjunction with motions by the state to establish an emergency manager, the efforts to privatize our water system under the guise of regionalization, the hijacking of our public education system and other motions to strip power and representation from poor, Black and people of color communities.

We need to talk.

Gregg Newsom is the communications coordinator for the Detroit Food Justice Task Force. The Task Force is a consortium of Black and people of color led organizations and supporters that share a commitment to creating a food security plan for Detroit that is sustainable; provides healthy, affordable foods for all of the city’s people; is based on best-practices and programs that work; and is just and equitable in the distribution of food, jobs and economic benefits. Visit www.detroitfoodjustice.org for more information.

By Gregg Newsom
This is the second in the series of columns on the justice principle of community health by the Justice Communicators.

While reflecting on the principal of community health and its relationship to food for this column, I was fortunate enough to attend the Re-Imagining Work Conference held Oct. 28-30 at Focus: HOPE. The conference opened Saturday morning with Mama Sandra Simmons’ words, “Let the healing begin,” which were called back by all who were gathered. The words resonated deep within me and reflected a recent but long-coming shift in my understanding of what many activists refer to as direct action.

I’ve identified with and promoted many reasons for the dismantling of the current global, national and regional food systems, but Re-Imagining Work re-imagined my awareness of the energetic, soulful and healing aspects of food, and how feeding each other and holding space for healing in our communities directly connects us to often unrecognized power.

The food we eat influences not only our bodies, but also our minds. The connections between food and behavior in our schools and in our prison system has been well-documented, but often I forget to follow that awareness through to its conclusion in my own diet and its effect on my own perception and behavior and how it must influence us all. I think this notion, that food influences our perception of the world around us and our ability to participate in it, is of value in the struggle against the dominant systems that perpetuate inequality and oppression around the globe and right here in Detroit.

The existing global national and regional food systems, these top-down structures, like the corporate banking system, are a seat of white supremacy. The products on our shelves, in both privileged and oppressed neighborhoods are expressions of this supremacy. While some argue that with political change or even a more abstract shift, these systems could support and feed everyone, I agree that, yes, they could, but they will not because, at their root, this is not what they are designed to do.

The current systems are designed to separate people from the earth, from each other and subject us to and implicate us in systems that are based solely on profit. While I am often accused of being an obstructionist to realistic change by those who for many reasons cling to the status quo, I believe we should be vigilant in the awareness that to change, influence or alter the existing systems rather than dismantle them is to carry forward the supremacy and oppression inherent in their design.

I’m not suggesting we gather up pitchforks and occupy the food terminal and eastern market — yet. I prefer not to use the word alternative because alternatives are often restricted by norms and provide opportunity for corporations to brand and market them, but this grassroots or ground-up effort, while being hard to define and emergent, is very real and lends itself to community health and healing in the face of the very systems that strive to disconnect us from the natural world.

Bringing this down to the natural world, these grassroots systems that stand upon the principals of justice we have been exploring in this column, hold space for us to reconnect to our humanity and to each other. While often dismissed as idealistic, the radical notion of feeding each other, caring for each other and actively engaging in healing dialog and action offer us two important results. They give us working models of what could be. Grassroots networks, unlike top-down systems, appear to be inherently regenerative. They also serve as something like an antidote to the top-down systems and, while not directly confronting these systems, offer us an opportunity to dismantle them from our hearts outward.

Take, for example, the Occupy Wall Street movement and the recent governmental efforts in many predominantly Black and people of color geographies, like Oakland and Atlanta, to shut them down. I suggest we not look past the fact that the Occupy Oakland encampment was a space that was emerging with a focus on radical inclusion, community healing and was feeding over 1,000 people a day. While I don’t want to create a false sense of perfection and cannot know the struggles and factors that fostered the creation of this space in Oakland, the ability to feed and care for one another is a manifestation of non-hierarchical, community-driven power that historically has been shut down, typically with force and violence.

Connecting to history, even the deceptive textbooks I read in suburban high schools suggested through a footnote that it was the Black Panther’s ability to feed their communities that was the greatest threat to the systems they were struggling against. At this weekend’s conference I had a brief moment to ask local author and activist Yusef Shakur if, based on a recent trip out west, he had a gauge on the involvement and support of Occupy Oakland among the local community. He shared that many Panthers expressed support just days before the early morning raid by Oakland police. I think there is a great deal revealed in this series of events.

While making these connections and thinking critically across history, I recommend that we mindfully consider them cautionary examples and recognize and lift them up as moments when power manifest became visible. With Mama Sandra Simmons’ words “Let the healing begin” still reverberating in me and the regenerative power of such work confirmed and validated by current and historical events, I can’t help but expand my concept of direct action to include feeding others and working to create opportunities for the healing at all levels.

Gregg Newsom is the communications coordinator for the Detroit Food Justice Task Force. Visit www.detroitfood-justice.org for more information.

DETROIT – The General Motors Theatre inside the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History will serve as the venue for the fifth annual East Michigan Environmental Action Council (EMEAC) Green Screen Youth Environmental Film Festival beginning at 7 p.m. on November 17.

“We really wanted to mark the fifth anniversary of Green Screen with a gala event at a location that really reflected our commitment to Detroit and its history,” said EMEAC Associate Director Lottie Spady. “The young people always get really excited to see their name up on the marquee. I think they’ll be even more excited to know that their work is going to be featured at the GM Theatre. We think we have a venue that’s fitting of the event.”

Green Screen V will be preceded by a special Green Room youth gathering at 4 p.m. inside the nearby Plymouth United Church of Christ located at 600 E Warren Avenue. The Green Room gathering is open to youth of all ages and will be attended by Green Screen filmmakers and cast members along with young people from the 12 organizations of the Detroit Future Youth Network.

Green Screen, which celebrates youth voices and emerging environmentalism, provides a forum where students from across southeast Michigan and beyond showcase short films with environmental themes. These films allow young filmmakers to express what they think is most crucial to their health and to the natural environment. Some films also focus on making the world, their school or neighborhood environmentally healthier.

The three-to-five-minute short films, created by young artists and aspiring activists, span a range of environmental and social issues. The films are judged for cinematic merit, relevance to Southeastern Michigan, and creative messaging. The panel of judges will consist of independent directors, environmental activists, youth activists, and a journalist. Now in its fifth year, EMEAC gets statewide inquiries about this exciting event, as well as requests for film making workshops and demonstrations through out the year.

“It’s exciting that it has lasted for five years,” Spady said. “It’s special that Green Screen is still well received and it is looked forward to. It keeps growing in number and in size with the amount of media entries with the scope of topics that are covered. It’s all about the young people that are in it as part of the community.”

Anyone interested in, sponsoring a film, volunteering or making a donation of support should call 313 559-7498 or visit www.emeac.org. General admission for the event is a sliding scale donation from $5-$25. For further details on sponsorship opportunities or general admission email email Patrick@emeac.org.

Upcoming Events

The Google Calendar feed was not parsed successfully, please check that the feed URL is correct.

The Google Calendar feed was not parsed successfully, please check that the feed URL is correct.

Stay Connected

Evolve Detroit is our "as needed" newsletter that were attempting to get regular with. To subscribe please enter your email address & reply to the email sent to your inbox to confirm. Print copies are available at events and upon request. Thank You!